


A Nonexistent Pulse Was Racing

by BookWerm



Series: Short Torchwood Stories [4]
Category: Torchwood
Genre: Character Death Fix, Episode Fix-It: s02e13 Exit Wounds (Torchwood), F/M, Fix-It, and also they're all bi, and need therapy, torchwood is a found family
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-03
Updated: 2021-03-03
Packaged: 2021-03-15 20:14:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 953
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29813793
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BookWerm/pseuds/BookWerm
Summary: Inspired by Never Love An Anchor by The Crane Wives, this is a fix-it for Exit Wounds.<3 <3 <3I really recommend listening to Never Love An Anchor to understand my mood when writing this better, the panic and regret Owen felt, and why he changed his mind.
Relationships: Owen Harper & Toshiko Sato, Owen Harper/Toshiko Sato
Series: Short Torchwood Stories [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1749835
Comments: 2
Kudos: 12
Collections: Torchwood Fan Fests: Music Fest 2021





	A Nonexistent Pulse Was Racing

“FUCK!” 

Owen swore and began to run. Tosh’s voice, which had stayed with him through his way out of the nuclear power plant, had gone softer at first, then turned into pained gasps that she couldn’t quite keep hidden, and now she wasn’t responding at all.

“Tosh, Tosh, please…”

He ran faster, as fast as he could. On a night like this, nothing was a coincidence. He could barely hope to get there in time.

Every second it took for him to get to the Hub felt like an eternity. 

Like every day since his death, his heart didn’t pound, his pulse didn’t race, his muscles didn’t burn. It clashed so much with the fact that he was terrified out of his mind. He couldn’t lose Tosh. Not after all this. Not now!

Owen burst through the cog door, frantic for any sign of her.

He found her where she lay, on the floor of the autopsy bay in a pool of blood, limp.

Time froze. It felt like the world had just shattered into pieces around him and now he was kneeling in the shards. His heart ached -

He went to work.

Pulse, check. Slow, almost gone. She had a gunshot wound in her abdomen, but she was unconscious. Major blood loss.

Owen moved quickly, and grabbed the O negative from the fridge and gloves, prepping for emergency surgery. He had no idea if the shooter was still in the Hub, but if he didn’t help her now, she’d be too far gone. He had to risk it.

Carefully as he could, he moved her to the table.

He used precise, quick movements, racing against a ticking clock to get the bullet out, stitched up, and her pulse back to normal.

He found himself wishing he could still cry. It didn’t feel like he was fast enough, he wasn’t going to be fast enough!

His thoughts were a whirlwind inside him. 

“Please, Tosh, don’t die on me. You can do it.”

There were footsteps pounding behind him. He could hear raised voices, people shouting, but he just kept on working. Stitches, check the pulse, bandage, check the pulse, blood transfusion,  _ check the pulse. _

And then her heart stopped.

Everything was on auto-pilot, nothing was on auto-pilot. It was like he was far away from himself, watching himself move, and yet he was so very there, in every moment of it.

  
  


_ I’m sorry, Tosh, for not taking you up on that offer of a pool tournament, or a beer with just the two of us. For scorning you for wanting to love a dead man. You can love whoever you damn want to, just please, DON’T DIE! … please, Tosh. I need you. _

And with that chest compression, Tosh’s heart began to beat.

Owen set up a saline drip, and a monitor for her vitals. He carefully moved a strand of hair from her eyes. Then he looked to his right where everyone else stood.

Along with John bloody Hart.

Owen drew his gun.

“Was it you? Did you shoot her?” he snarled.

John looked panicked, glancing at Jack for assistance.

“No, wasn’t me, I swear. Must’ve been Gray.”

“Well, if he’s not here to shoot right now, you’re a great replacement.”

Jack put up his hands in a placating gesture. “Let’s not shoot anyone. Look, John helped us. He was being threatened to blow up the city.”

“Do I look like I bloody care?” Owen was on the verge of sobbing. “Tosh almost died. She WAS dead for a minute there!”

“She’ll be okay.” Said Jack. “Put it down?”

Reluctantly, Owen did.

Gwen and Ianto followed Jack up to Tosh, reassuring themselves that she was going to be ok.

Owen sat on the sidelines, waiting, watching.

He told the others he was staying to make sure she stayed stable after they worked to fix what they could that night. There would be no point in going home when he could be here, watching after Tosh. After all, he didn’t need any sleep.

He made sure she had enough painkillers, hoping that she had a dreamless sleep, and was changing the saline drip when she woke up.

“Owen?” 

“Tosh? How are you feeling?”

“Just kind of numb. And sleepy.” She moved her hand over to his, and smiled hesitantly. “Is this alright?”

“Of course it is, Tosh.”

She blinked at that, but smiled, and soon fell back asleep.

When she woke up, she wanted to go home. Owen checked her over quite a few times, to the point where Ianto got annoyed for her, and he reluctantly agreed she should be able to take care of herself at home.

He caught up to her on the way out, and pulled her to the side.

“Tosh…”

She tilted her head inquisitively, and Owen continued. “I know I brushed it off when you said you loved me. I was a real prick about it. I want you to know that I… I’m sorry for that. You mean so much to me. I thought I didn’t deserve you, could never be what you needed, that it could never work out, what with me being dead. And you know what? Screw that. Tosh,” he looked away and then back into her eyes, summoning up the courage. “I love you, and to hell with whether anyone deserves it. I’m so glad you’re alive.”

“I’m glad I’m alive, too.” She chuckled lightly and then smiled. “I love you.”

“So, um,” he scratched the back of his neck.”Are you free Friday night, rift aside?”

“Owen, are you asking me out on a date?”

He nodded wordlessly.

“Then yes.”

She smiled gently, and gingerly walked away, a bounce in her step.


End file.
